By Far and away!

By far the best part of our trip was the chance to meet two of Benjamin's birth mother's sisters and their children at Ikea. We loved visiting with them!! It never feels long enough and I find myself wanting to sit and talk for hours. We cherish the relationship we are building with them. They are terrific people and I feel blessed to have them be an extended part of our little family. That might sound strange to someone on the outside looking in, but it is so nice to have someone else love Benjamin like we do. Not to mention that they are just cool.

Special thanks too to Kenneth and Heidi for letting us crash and serving us yummy food and to Scott and Jenni for also making the trip. It is so fun for the cousins to get to play together.

Signers of the Declaration

Our favorite monument was the Signers of the declaration of Independence. It is a bit hidden and off the beaten path. We were so glad we found it.

Scientist Benjamin?

Benjamin loved the discovery center in the National History Museum. He wouldn't let go of the magnifying glass.

Congressman Benjamin?

We went to Washington DC the end of last week through the weekend. On Friday we had a tour of the capital. When we returned to the congressman's office Ben went and climbed in his chair. At first I was apologetic but the staffer assured us that the congressman was away and wouldn't mind. Maybe this is our new retirement plan....we used to think that Ben might be a dentist or a professional ball player....we hadn't considered a congressional bid.

Life as I knew it......

Life as I knew it is over. Last night Benjamin climbed out of his crib. I knew it would happen eventually, but he has short little legs and I thought that we could "cage" him a little longer. We have been alternating between the crib and his big boy bed for several weeks but when he is in his bed he comes and get me every night around 3 am. I haven't been to fond of that so we started moving him to the crib when we go to bed. Last night he woke up cried for a few minutes and began his descent. He came to get a suprised Mommy and Daddy. If anyone has any good ideas about how to get him to sleep through the night and/or stay in his bed I'd love them.

Kitchen without floor

Sisters

This morning my sister called. It was so nice to talk to her. She wanted me to post pictures of our kitchen. We ripped up the tile and part of the sub floor this weekend. We hope to finish this coming weekend and then start to update.

As Benjamin has napped I have spent some time thinking about my sister. She is amazing! Margaret Mead once said, a “Sister is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship.” I believe that to be true. We know one another's faults, virtues, catastrophes, mortifications, triumphs, rivalries, and desires. We share private family jokes and laugh when Islands in the Stream comes on the radio. There's a special kind of freedom that I believe sisters enjoy: freedom to share innermost thoughts, to ask a favor, to show truest feelings. I can always simply be myself with Karen.

I’m so grateful to have a sister!

Ears

Ben decided he needed to wear Mr. Potato Head's ears and hat. We were concerned that maybe the ears would hurt his ear drum and so we talked him into "wearing" the mouth instead. He added the mustache. What a ham!

What are you thinking about?

I walked by the dining room the other day and saw Benjamin just laying under the table with his head in his hands. I couldn't help but wonder why, and what he must be mulling over. It was too cute to not capture with a picture.

Not so picky

His final words before going in were "this good."
I love it when he says that. It doesn't happen often enough.

Buzz

We found some Buzz light year pajamas at the grocery store yesterday. Ben was so happy about that find. He wanted to wear the top right away.

Can you hold please?

I'd like a large pepperoni...

Big Mess

We are finally at the point in our kitchen re-do that we took out the closet that conflict with the kitchen door. Ben got up from his nap, came into the kitchen and said "Big Mess". We laughed hard, -he was right! When Joseph completes the wiring we will take out the last studs and put a bench in that space. It will be nice and have the feel of a mud room area, (fingers crossed) hopefully.